Search Bosnia and Herzegovina aviation news

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

The month of August this year is going to be busiest on the
record for Sarajevo International Airport. According to the schedule of the
airlines operating flights to and from Sarajevo, the airlines will offer over
135.000 seats during the month of August 2016. August is usually the busiest
month of the year for Sarajevo Int. Airport. Average cabin load factor during
August is reaching high 90%. This year, airport is expecting to handle over
110.000 passengers during August, braking last year’s record when 101.307 passengers
used the airport.

Sarajevo International Airport, August 2016: number of
flights by airline and seats offered

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

“All preconditions for the export of meat and meat products to Turkey from the Tuzla International Airport are met and exports should officially start in the second week of June. The contract with Turkish cargo airline My Cargo Airline has already been signed and everything is going according to the plan,” said the Director of the Tuzla International Airport, Rifat Karasalihovic, adding:

“We have already signed a contract with the airline My Cargo from Turkey and according to the contract, the export is planned with Boeing 747 aircraft, one of the largest airplanes currently, whose capacity is 110 tons. According to plans, these planes will fly three times a week from the airport. We will see if this will change later.”

Karasalihovic emphasized that everything, both technical and administrative, conditions have been met for one of the most important projects for the region recently. In order for everything to go according to plan, the Government of Tuzla Canton held a special session on Thursday, and made a decision on approval of 250,000 BAM, in order for all preconditions for the start of the project to be met.

My Cargo Airlines has a fleet of eight Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft. It operates international scheduled and charter air cargo service, as well as wet and dry lease services. Its main base is Istabul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport. The airline's European hub is based at Liege Airport in Belgium.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Qatar Airways in last week’s schedule update, has made further frequency changes on a number of destinations, as a result of aircraft shortage and redeployment, including Sarajevo, between June and October 2016. Planned Doha-Sarajevo service launch from 07. September 2016. is postponed to 02. November 2016. Flight schedule and frequencies are still unchanged.

Air Serbia is the only airline operating to/from Banja Luka
International Airport with five weekly flights from Belgrade using ATR-72
aircraft with 66 seats. Four weekly flights were introduced with the beginning
of summer time table on March 27th, additional fifth weekly flight
started on April 20th and will last until October 29, when flights
will go back to three weekly. With the beginning of Air Serbia’s flights to New
York on June 23rd, number of passengers on flight to and from Banja
Luka should improve too.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

During month of April, number of passengers using airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased from 89.145 to 98.292 (+10,26% or 9.147 passengers increase). Tuzla International Airport recorded largest increase in passengers handled,+43,42% or 7.518 passengers increase. Sarajevo International Airport recorded increase of 7,96% or 5.021 more comparing to same month last year.Banja Luka and Mostar airport yet again recorded decrees.

Passengers statistics for airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina

(January-April 2016)

Airport

April

2015

April

2016

Change

Year to date

YTD

Change

SARAJEVO

63.064

68.085

+7,26%

205.298

+4,24%

TUZLA

17.311

24.829

+43,42%

87.601

+54,22%

MOSTAR

6.680

3.797

-43,15%

5.169

-48,64%

B. LUKA

2.090

1.581

-24,35%

5.308

-17,07%

BiH Total

89.145

98.292

+10,26%

303.376

+12,27%

Total number of passengers for Bosnia and Herzegovina Jan-Apr 2015: 270.212

Total number of passengers for Bosnia and Herzegovina Jan-Apr 2016: 303.376 (+12,27%)

During month of March number of passengers using airports in
Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased from 68.499 to 79.526 (+16,09% or 11.027
passengers increase). Tuzla International Airport recorded largest increase in
passengers handled +63,03% or 9.124 passengers increase. Sarajevo
International Airport recorded increase of 6,29% or 3.165 passengers increase,
comparing to same month last year. Banja Luka airport recorded small increase of 3,08% or 41 more passengers. Mostar airport yet again recorded
decrees.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

June 1st 2016. is the date when first airplane
loaded with food of animal origin made by Bosnian farmers should take off from
Tuzla International Airport heading to Turkey, officially establishing international
cargo traffic from the airport. With the start of cargo flights, Tuzla airport and whole region sees great opportunity for economic development.

Minister of Trade, Tourism and Transport of Tuzla County
Mirsad Gluhic stated in an interview to Klix.ba that the establishment of cargo
traffic will be of great importance for the economy of this region and for the whole
of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Republic of Turkey
and Bosnia and Herzegovina have both signed an agreement on duty-free export of
fresh meat and products made from fresh meat as of two years ago. Last year
meat was exported from airports in both Sarajevo and Banjaluka. However, fraud
involving Bosnian companies abusing duty-free export of meat to Turkey by
importing meat from other European countries (Poland and Romania) and labeling it
as a product of Bosnian origin, have seriously shaken the stability of this
agreement. The export of meat was suspended at the beginning of the year. During
official visit of members of Bosnian presidency to Turkey and meeting with the Turkish
president, export of meat is unblocked under very strict rules. Bosnian
officials agreed to investigate and prosecute the companies and individuals
responsible for fraud. The prosecutor's
office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and State Investigation and Protection Agency
(SIPA) are investigating companies involved in this fraud.

During this year alone, 6,000 tons of fresh beef and 1,000
tons of beef products will be exported to Turkey. Last year a total of 47 million
Euros worth of meat was exported, compared to 2,8 million Euros in the year
2014. Five companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina got
approval to export fresh meat and meat products by air to Turkey.

Sarajevo Int. Airport, Turkish Airlines Airbus 330F

"We were
given a second opportunity to export meat to Turkey, and this time we cannot
afford to do something wrong. The agreement is a form of support of Republic of
Turkey to Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is clearly stated that we can export only
products made in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Authorities on the highest level, including
the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina have to be involved to
monitor the work of all subjects involved in export “said Minister Gluhic.

Tuzla Int. Airport, photo by Kontrolaletenja.net

Tuzla International
Airport is providing separate cargo platform through which it will carry out
cargo operations. Freight air traffic is separated from the passenger. Tuzla
County Government headed by Prime Minister Bego Gutic has invested great efforts
in Tuzla Airport to obtain all permits to transport perishable goods. At the
moment we have a great increase in passenger traffic, and with cargo operations
in place in the coming period we have to start a process of expanding and modernization
of the airport, which will surely be a great support to the Tuzla county
economy, concludes Gluhic.

Banja Luka Int. Airport, photo by banjaluka-airport.com

Exports of meat
from Bosnia and Herzegovinay to Turkey in 2015 were done through airports
Sarajevo and Banjaluka. At the beginning of this year airports in Tuzla and
Mostar received necessary permits for exports of meat to Turkey as well. All
airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina are competing for air cargo flights to
Turkey since all flight are operated with wide body aircraft from Turkish
Airlines (Airbus 330F) and MNG Airlines (Airbus 310F), representing great
income to the airports. Each aircraft can carry up to 45 tons of cargo. Last
year air cargo traffic to Turkey was the only source of income for Banjaluka
airport. During this year most of the cargo flights to Turkey will be carried
out from airports in Sarajevo and Tuzla. In 2016. Turkish Airlines is scheduled to operate 74 round trip cargo flights from Tuzla to Istanbul Ataturk Airport. Flights will operate 2 to 3 times per week (depending on demand) with Airbus 330-200 freighter aircraft, capable to carry up to 64 metric tons of cargo.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Summer season is always very busy at Sarajevo
International Airport and this year it will be busiest on the record. Many
flights are booked way in advance like Fly Dubai flights from Dubai, Norwegian
Air flights from Stockholm and Copenhagen, Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul Ataturk Airport and Pegasus Airlines flights from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport. Many airlines are
using larger aircraft on its flights to Sarajevo.

Turkish Airlines is using Airbus 321 on most of its flights (180 seats) up to 3 daily flights.

Luxury Airbus 319 belonging to Emirates Airlines (world’s
best airline), will be visiting Sarajevo International Airport today. Luxury
division of the airline called Emirates Executive is offering high end
clientele luxury private jet service which can now be booked on
Emirates-executive website. Customers seeking unsurpassed luxury in air travel
can book a tailor-made experience on Emirates Executive ultra-spacious
Airbus 319 aircraft, with capacity to accommodate 19 guests. The aircraft with registration
A6-CJE is offering 10 private suites and 5 lie-flat beds. Maximum range is
7000 kilometers. Emirates will fly Airbus 319 from Riyadh King Khalid
International Airport in Saudi Arabia to Sarajevo International Airport with scheduled arrival at Sarajevo airport at 19:35.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

The Hungarian National Development Ministry has published
a tender for interested airlines to operate flights from Budapest to: Sarajevo,
Skopje, Pristina, Podgorica and Tirana. Flights will be subsidized by Hungarian
government. All carriers holding AOC registered within the European Union are
eligible to apply for the subsidies. According to tender procedure May 19th is
the deadline to submit an application, by July 15th airline operating flights
will be chosen.

Airlines willing to take part in tender procedure have to
fulfill following:

minimum 2 return
flights per week

aircraft must have minimum 30 seats

aircraft can’t be older than 8 years

minimum one Hungarian speaking flight attendant

Most likely Wizz Air will be the airline operating the
flights, since the airline has large presence in the region, and its low cost
model is most suitable for this type of flights.

Detailed information on tender procedure of scheduled air
services from Budapest to five Western Balkan countries can be found by visiting: